I'm very surprised Mikaze isn't here to fanboy over all this."sigh" i miss mikaze, haven't seen him around lately.
Well, he hasn't posted for two weeks, but that has happened in the past. He'll turn up shortly, I hope.
I actually had a variant monk with wis to hit and to damage, but I never go to playtest it. Then I went for over a year with not enough people to game with so I forgot about it.I'll save further comment for later, but reading this thread... I'm no longer excited about the Unchained Monk. It seems like it lost almost as much as it gained. Why the hell did they nerf their Will saves and make FoB more restrictive? And I don't really think Wis to hit is all that good... Wis to damage would be better.
I guess I'll just use the new spell list for Summoners and maybe the Unchained Rogue (I don't know much about it yet, but it can't be worse than the base class).
I think Wis to both would be too much. Wis to damage would be cool though - it'd work well in combo with Weapon Finesse - making the Agile AoMF not required. Though that doesn't really bother me as my monks use their amulet just for weapon abilities anyway.
One note people aren't mentioning about the advantage of having 2 stats to AC - since one is mental their item boosts are for different slots. It basically gives monks another slot for an AC item. (not to mention potential Efreeti tricks to boost both)
Curious - does no one else here wield an allied weapon for pure enhancement on their unarmed monks? Past the first couple points, their enhancement ends up being cheaper than a single weapon.
most martials = +10 weapon for 200,000gp
unarmed monk = +5 AoMF (abilities only) for 100,000gp & +5 allied weapon (+6 weapon total) for 72,000gp [aim the enhancement at your fist as a free action]
At max the monk actually saves 28,000gp, though the first few points will be more expensive for them.
During my solo playtesting it worked out well, but the downside was if the wisdom score was attack it would be really bad for the monk because all of his eggs would be in one basket. If I were to do it again I would make the monk less reliant on wisdom to AC, and actually have it be more of an optional stat than a "must have" stat.
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I don't understand why it was important to nerf the will save? Thematically it makes zero sense. Unhappy about the unchained classes.
Agreed, they should have unchained Still Mind.
Instead of enchantment defense it should be all will saves if they lower Will saves.So they have bad will saves but +2 will more from Still Mind. Still stings but not as bad.
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So, it occurs to me that you could kludge all the archetypes pretty easily.
Just change them so they replace the Ki Power gained at X level.
This works for most archetypes, I think.
Except for this little nugget from page 8:
Which means, all of the following archetypes are no longer legal:
Plus whatever else is available via 3PPs.
Note: Qinggong Monk is italicized as the Unchained Monk is the Qinggong Monk on steroids.
I opined that letting the Unchained Monk be take an Archetype by locking the necessary class skills as Ki powers, that would then be swapped out and forever locked out, so that they could qualify for the Archetype ability. This was argued against.
So, by RAW (aka: Pathfinder Society), the Unchained Monk would never be able to take an Archetype.
This invalidates 4 of my 11 characters- I would need a complete and total rebuild, should the Unchained Monk be the only variant in Society Play.
It was my understanding that the Master of Many Styles was still a legal archetype for the unchained monk.
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So, by RAW (aka: Pathfinder Society), the Unchained Monk would never be able to take an Archetype.
Technically by RAW, they could take archetypes that come out after Unchained since it says from previous books.
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Nobody uses that because it's not rules legal. You are only considered wielding a weapon if you're actively using it as far as magic item abilities go."Wielding" as a term is super-tangled, but I agree on allying that you'd need to actually be attacking with it. That said, Unchained flurry probably has your back there as long as you make at least one attack with the allying weapon in the flurry. But hey, I like a good reason to mix up the unarmed strikes and weapon attacks anyway without it being really bad; it reminds me more of martial artist and monk characters I see fighting in other media.
Yeah - I've had table variance on it. (Though it is using one of your 'hands' whether you attack with it or not as the monk's unarmed only uses a single 'hand' to flurry.) Worst case - by level 8 (about when you can afford a decent allied weapon in combo with an AoMF anyway) having your final flurry attack be worthless isn't that bad and totally worth the allied bonus to your other 3-4 swings. At high levels, the loss of your final swing is negligible.
From a fluff perspective I think of that weapon being used to maneuver them into unarmed blows as opposed to trying to really hit with it.
don't know if this has been addressed but how (or if at all) will the unchained monk effect the prestige class Champion of Irori?
That prestige class is definitely less appealing for the Unchained Monk. The Unchained Monk needs 4 levels rather than 3 to get the Still Mind class feature, but the prestige class itself advances monk abilities that the monk itself still has. The prestige class has full BAB, so it provides no issues to flurry. However, the d8 hit die for the Champion of Irori now seems even more wrong than it did in the original publication, given that entering it via the Unchained Monk class means that you are combining the abilities of two classes with d10 hit dice into a prestige class that has only d8 hit dice.
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don't know if this has been addressed but how (or if at all) will the unchained monk effect the prestige class Champion of Irori?That prestige class is definitely less appealing for the Unchained Monk. The Unchained Monk needs 4 levels rather than 3 to get the Still Mind class feature, but the prestige class itself advances monk abilities that the monk itself still has. The prestige class has full BAB, so it provides no issues to flurry. However, the d8 hit die for the Champion of Irori now seems even more wrong than it did in the original publication, given that entering it via the Unchained Monk class means that you are combining the abilities of two classes with d10 hit dice into a prestige class that has only d8 hit dice.
Thank you for the response so is their any mechanical reason to go COI?
So, it occurs to me that you could kludge all the archetypes pretty easily.
Just change them so they replace the Ki Power gained at X level.
This works for most archetypes, I think.
Except for this little nugget from page 8:
** spoiler omitted **Which means, all of the following archetypes are no longer legal:
** spoiler omitted **I opined that letting the Unchained Monk be take an Archetype by locking the necessary class skills as Ki powers, that would then be swapped out and forever locked out, so that they could qualify for the Archetype ability. This was argued against.
So, by RAW (aka: Pathfinder Society), the Unchained Monk would never be able to take an Archetype.
This invalidates 4 of my 11 characters- I would need a complete and total rebuild, should the Unchained Monk be the only variant in Society Play.
I could not possibly care less about PFS. That was my easy way to houserule the archetypes to work, hence the use of the word "kludge".
Ah, I misunderstood some posta... It's the style strikes that requiew an specific limb, not the new FoB. Alright, then.
The nerf to Will saves is still stupid, unnecessary and contrary to the flavor of the class...
Ah, I misunderstood some posta... It's the style strikes that requiew an specific limb, not the new FoB. Alright, then.
The nerf to Will saves is still stupid, unnecessary and contrary to the flavor of the class...
One thing that doesn't get mentioned a lot are the new class abilities the unchained monk gets that make up for this. Ultimately, I'd say their Will saves end up comparable in most situations.
By spending 1 point from his ki pool as a swift action, a monk with this power can suppress a fear effect affecting him as if using remove fear, using his monk level as his caster level. He can spend 2 ki points to activate this ability even when frightened or panicked.
A monk gains a +2 bonus on saving throws against enchantment spells and effects.
A monk gains total control over his mental faculties. Whenever he attempts a Will save, he can roll twice and take the better result. If he fails a Will saving throw against a spell or effect that has a duration longer than 1 hour, the monk can attempt a new saving throw at the end of each hour to end the effect.
And let's not forget the inevitable high Wisdom score.
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I'd be interested to know what was the Unchained authors' list of things which needed fixing for the monk, and where MAD was on it (and whether they felt that they'd addressed it).
I guess a quick table fix is just Wis for to-hit and/or damage, although that wouldn't help PFS players. The extra focus on Wisdom would also alleviate the Will Save issue (frankly, I always thought it was cool to have the Monk as a strong-minded cerebral
Ah, I misunderstood some posta... It's the style strikes that requiew an specific limb, not the new FoB. Alright, then.
The nerf to Will saves is still stupid, unnecessary and contrary to the flavor of the class...
One thing that doesn't get mentioned a lot are the new class abilities the unchained monk gets that make up for this. Ultimately, I'd say their Will saves end up comparable in most situations.
And let's not forget the inevitable high Wisdom score.
Flawless Mind is very nice, but it's a capstone ability. I tend to make a lot of sill saves before I hit level nineteen.
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I don't understand what Paizo's problem is with non-spellcasters having good will saves. For a book all about killing sacred cows it's pretty bizarre how they stuck with "martials should be at the mercy of the wizard's dominate person DC" on a class that broke that rule before.
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I don't understand what Paizo's problem is with non-spellcasters having good will saves. For a book all about killing sacred cows it's pretty bizarre how they stuck with "martials should be at the mercy of the wizard's dominate person DC" on a class that broke that rule before.
In the unchained Paladin, Divine Grace only applies on saves vs evil outsiders.
[/sarcasm]
Thank you for the response so is their any mechanical reason to go COI?don't know if this has been addressed but how (or if at all) will the unchained monk effect the prestige class Champion of Irori?That prestige class is definitely less appealing for the Unchained Monk. The Unchained Monk needs 4 levels rather than 3 to get the Still Mind class feature, but the prestige class itself advances monk abilities that the monk itself still has. The prestige class has full BAB, so it provides no issues to flurry. However, the d8 hit die for the Champion of Irori now seems even more wrong than it did in the original publication, given that entering it via the Unchained Monk class means that you are combining the abilities of two classes with d10 hit dice into a prestige class that has only d8 hit dice.
Well, it still provides a way to handle the monk/paladin combination. I have not analyzed the possibilities of using variant multiclassing from monk to paladin or vice versa, but those would be the main alternatives now. In those case, you may not get everything you want from your secondary class though.
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I'll start: Flawless Mind does not cost ki, nor do you have to pick it as a ki power. You just get it automatically.
At 19th level. A stage which most campaigns never reach.
That's the Monk's THING, man; no armor, all good saves. A martial artist with such mental discipline that unlike the brawler his mind is as impregnable as his body, to the point he literally armors himself in wisdom.
That's how I felt too. It was like making the monk a Brawler...only not as good as the brawler.
The one I was referring to there are called style strikes. You can make one per round whenever you are flurrying and learn more as you go. They are not limited in any other way that I can see.
Without giving too much away they are really cool and include examples like flying kick, defensive spin, hammerblow, head-butt (so amazing), leg sweep and more. They actively let you adjust even while flurrying to be more defensive, do more damage, inflict ailments, move, and more. We felt it was something the monk should have had all along honestly.
They are good...but they are a minor feature. Some of them address the monk's issues, like flying kick letting you move and full-attack - but other than that there is that dependence on flurry-of-blows again.
The secondary will save makes up for the Full BAB and HD d10 bump to me, and since Ki is still Wis driven, the Monk will have a will save that only trails behind clerics and paladins, which is still...great.
Not really, as the monk hasn't lost his MADness so that's less wisdom than clerics and less charisma than paladins. In fact it puts the monk more on a par with the ranger.
Take a weak class. Add a bonus. Take away a bonus. What do you end up with? Still a weak class. The monk is offensively a little stringer, but with MAD and lower enhancement he's still behind the other martials, while defensively he's now on a par with the other martials. That's not actually a net improvement.
Will save bonus is lower, but that was always going to be one of the monk's better saves anyway. Add in the new Will save benefits that nobody has bothered to wait and examine before declaring a flub? Sounds like Chicken Little's been running amok again.
No, he;s not. The new "will save benefits" are? Well I see Still Mind is the same as ever, and the Flawless Mind is not gained until 19th level - to high to be of much use in most campaigns. Looking through the monk I'm not seeing anything else.
No time to go through the rest of this already-long thread, that's just the first page. I imagine this will be as contentious as the other monk threads with supporters and detractors. I really, really wanted to be a supporter....damn...
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I don't understand what Paizo's problem is with non-spellcasters having good will saves. For a book all about killing sacred cows it's pretty bizarre how they stuck with "martials should be at the mercy of the wizard's dominate person DC" on a class that broke that rule before.
I don't think Paizo really [i]understood[i] that (and how) the monk was weak before, although they said it was. They removed the strong will save I would guess because they made the monk offensively stronger, without realising that they had not brought the monk up to even the same level as the paladin without a smite. This essentially left the monk as weak as before on the exchange.
Some of the style strikes are nice, but the ki powers...too many, cost too much ki, last too short a period of time. I thought Formless Mastery was the boost the monk needed to bring it to the offence level of the other martials...then I read "As long as he does not possess any style feat" and realised that it was unusable to any monk build I would want.
Don't forget that it's also only against people who ARE using Style Feats.
Formless Mastery may well be one of the worst abilities ever printed. It actively nerfs you, highly restricts your build options, costs a resource to activate, and gives a negligible defensive boost against >1% of enemies you may face.
Don't forget that it's also only against people who ARE using Style Feats.
Formless Mastery may well be one of the worst abilities ever printed. It actively nerfs you, highly restricts your build options, costs a resource to activate, and gives a negligible defensive boost against >1% of enemies you may face.
oO
What...?!
I'm actually amazed by how awful this ability is... I wonder what was going through the mind of its designer when he created it (as well as when he decided to nerf Will saves).
Don't forget that it's also only against people who ARE using Style Feats.
Formless Mastery may well be one of the worst abilities ever printed. It actively nerfs you, highly restricts your build options, costs a resource to activate, and gives a negligible defensive boost against >1% of enemies you may face.
oO
I'm actually amazed by how awful this ability is... I wonder what was going through the mind of its designer when he created it (as well as when he decided to nerf Will saves).
The ability is amazing!
If you're an NPC being used against the party. I honestly think this was an option designed for GM's to use against the party. Not everything is a PC option, after all.
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Truly, the pinnacle of design. An ability designed solely to mock the player with how terrible it is when he uses it, but how it exists only to give the GM an opportunity to f*@@ with him when he wants to.
Way back when, early in the kineticist thread during the Occult Adventure playtest, there was a discussion as to whether or not the kineticist should be full BAB to help with accuracy. I remember arguing that FullBAB/d10HD was mechanically overvalued. If it went to full BAB then it may just lose a lot of good thing. Now I really gotta see the book when it comes in the mail because I kind of stopped trusting forum discussions on determining what's weak or strong at my table and I sure don't know how much of the discussion is pure hyperbole, but I feel like adding Flying Kick and the new flurry would have went over better, but it got shafted in one way or another by being a Full BAB class and so got some things taken away.
Did they open playtest these at all? Paizo's open playtest of all their big stuff is what separated them from WoTC. It's why it succeeded and 4th edition failed. When Paizo listens to their customers, beautiful things happen.
Monks represent the perfection of body and mind. No other class should be better outside divine interference. Irori is probably very displeased with Paizo right now.
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I will probably get this book as it will probably have something useful I can use. But as usually the devs are unable or unwilling to find the proper middle ground when designing something. Either a ability is really good. Or it's not worth taking. Six years after the core was released and I expected a hell of lot better from the devs. Oh well.
Don't forget that it's also only against people who ARE using Style Feats.
Formless Mastery may well be one of the worst abilities ever printed. It actively nerfs you, highly restricts your build options, costs a resource to activate, and gives a negligible defensive boost against >1% of enemies you may face.
Just saying, I know the summary of the ability in this thread is that it gives +4 to AC, but that's not even the half of what it gives.
Just saying, I know the summary of the ability in this thread is that it gives +4 to AC, but that's not even the half of what it gives.Don't forget that it's also only against people who ARE using Style Feats.
Formless Mastery may well be one of the worst abilities ever printed. It actively nerfs you, highly restricts your build options, costs a resource to activate, and gives a negligible defensive boost against >1% of enemies you may face.
Yes, it also gives a bonus to attack rolls and a massive damage boost, against...nobody.
Granted I recently (last night) fought a guy with Style Feats (as he was an NPC build-wise inspired by my character, who in his backstory was inspired by this character to learn martial arts), but if I had had Formless Mastery instead of my Dragon and Snake Styles I'd probably be dead since Snake Fang AoOs were what gave me the damage edge required to beat him (it was a close fight). +13 damage is kinda trumped by 3 hits worth 2d8+30 apiece.
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When Paizo listens to their customers, beautiful things happen.
Pity the only time they listened was when everyone said "I'd rather play 3.5 than fourth."
Until the leads on the books aren't people who will repeatedly decide against increased player choice and power except for casters, as the saying goes: "the more things change, the more they stay the same."
Just saying, I know the summary of the ability in this thread is that it gives +4 to AC, but that's not even the half of what it gives.Don't forget that it's also only against people who ARE using Style Feats.
Formless Mastery may well be one of the worst abilities ever printed. It actively nerfs you, highly restricts your build options, costs a resource to activate, and gives a negligible defensive boost against >1% of enemies you may face.
Yes, it also gives a bonus to attack rolls and a massive damage boost, against...nobody.
Granted I recently (last night) fought a guy with Style Feats (as he was an NPC build-wise inspired by my character, who in his backstory was inspired by this character to learn martial arts), but if I had had Formless Mastery instead of my Dragon and Snake Styles I'd probably be dead since Snake Fang AoOs were what gave me the damage edge required to beat him (it was a close fight). +13 damage is kinda trumped by 3 hits worth 2d8+30 apiece.
I also really dislike the "I spent a feat on Style feats... Now I'm worse against Monks!". I hate that an ability in which I invested a resource into can make me weaker against certain enemies... It's pretty stupid that a 4th level Monk is better off fighting a guy using Formless Master than he'll be at 5th level, when he grabs a new feat. That's like making it so that when you grab Power Attack every Fighter deals double damage to you... Why would you do that?
Ugh... This ability is terrible design.
EDIT: Never mind, it only works against people using the Style feats. What the hell!?
Yeah, I do not understand how thematically it only works against opponents with a stand. A monk with this route rejects stands, so why could he exploit them more?
I'm not sure if the ability would be too strong without the restriction. At first glance it seems to strong, but then I think about paladin smites and how my magus works.
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Just saying, I know the summary of the ability in this thread is that it gives +4 to AC, but that's not even the half of what it gives.Don't forget that it's also only against people who ARE using Style Feats.
Formless Mastery may well be one of the worst abilities ever printed. It actively nerfs you, highly restricts your build options, costs a resource to activate, and gives a negligible defensive boost against >1% of enemies you may face.
Yes, it also gives a bonus to attack rolls and a massive damage boost, against...nobody.
Granted I recently (last night) fought a guy with Style Feats (as he was an NPC build-wise inspired by my character, who in his backstory was inspired by this character to learn martial arts), but if I had had Formless Mastery instead of my Dragon and Snake Styles I'd probably be dead since Snake Fang AoOs were what gave me the damage edge required to beat him (it was a close fight). +13 damage is kinda trumped by 3 hits worth 2d8+30 apiece.
I also really dislike the "I spent a feat on Style feats... Now I'm worse against Monks!". I hate that an ability in which I invested a resource into can make me weaker against certain enemies... It's pretty stupid that a 4th level Monk is better off fighting a guy using Formless Master than he'll be at 5th level, when he grabs a new feat. That's like making it so that when you grab Power Attack every Fighter deals double damage to you... Why would you do that?
Ugh... This ability is terrible design.
I'm fairly certain that, as written, you must currently be in the stance from the style feat to qualify as the target of Formless Mastery.
And you're not in a style's stance until you spend a swift action to do so, which lasts for the rest of combat. So this feat, in theory, doesn't even work on flatfooted/surprised style users, as they are not in their stances yet.
[ooc]Formless Mastery (Ex):
Indeed, so unless your GM custom builds people to use style feats, chances are likely this ability will never be useful (outside of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament). Formless Mastery is, basically, designed to be used by the GM against the players, because it's far more likely to see them with a style feat, than generic NPCs.
Even without the restriction it:
-Costs 1 Ki (a precious resource)
-Eats your Immediate action
-Forever precludes you from taking some of the best Feats in the game.
It's hardly too strong. This is like if the Paladin got to choose between Smite and something else, but if he chose Smite he'd never be able to take Power Attack or any of the archery Feats. And instead of working on all Evil creatures it only works against Evil Outsiders with Combat Expertise.
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Back on the poor Will save topic:
I think I know why the developers dropped it. It would have been too good of a dip in canon (not variant) multi-classing. Dip two levels of Unchained Monk and get +2 BAB, 2d10, multiple feats, and +3 to all Saves!! Yeah?
Unfortunately, I think they missed an opportunity here. I mean how they kept Still Mind exactly the same (but pushed it back to 4th level):
A monk gains a +2 bonus on saving throws against enchantment spells and effects.
If they had done this instead:
A main gains +1 bonus on all will saving throws. When the character gains 7th level as a monk (and every three levels gained as a monk thereafter) this bonus increases by +1 to a maximum of +6 at 19th level.
In addition, a monk gains a +2 bonus on saving throws against enchantment spells and effects. This ability stacks with the bonus listed above.
it might well have not sparked this debate. Four levels is a LOT for folks looking to dip. It would be a delayed good Will save, but that I could live with.
And if doing that was still too much, then I wouldn't mind dropping the hit die back down to a d8. Making the class even less attractive as a dip.
Just my thoughts.
MA
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[ooc]Formless Mastery (Ex):Indeed, so unless your GM custom builds people to use style feats, chances are likely this ability will never be useful (outside of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament). Formless Mastery is, basically, designed to be used by the GM against the players, because it's far more likely to see them with a style feat, than generic NPCs.
Imagine if the Androids specifically designed to kill Goku, were actually really bad at trying to kill anyone else, so Android 19.
That season would've been a lot shorter. And Vegeta would've actually saved the day for once.
[ooc]Formless Mastery (Ex):Indeed, so unless your GM custom builds people to use style feats, chances are likely this ability will never be useful (outside of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament). Formless Mastery is, basically, designed to be used by the GM against the players, because it's far more likely to see them with a style feat, than generic NPCs.Imagine if the Androids specifically designed to kill Goku, were actually really bad at trying to kill anyone else, so Android 19.
That season would've been a lot shorter. And Vegeta would've actually saved the day for once.
Yup, but Krillin would have missed out on the only good thing to have ever happened to him.
Couldn't you just have deleted the rules text rather than my whole post?
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Unchained is optional? Right?
So in theory, you could do everything the Unchained Monk has, but keep the saves as the CRB monk?
Unchained is optional? Right?
So in theory, you could do everything the Unchained Monk has, but keep the saves as the CRB monk?
Yep.
Ah, that makes sense, Mark. Thanks for the explanation.
Sorry, I didn't realize posting a small part of a class ability was against policy. In the past it seemed to me like piecemeal rules or paraphrased rules were okay, so I figured this would be okay as well.
Thinking on it more now though, I can see how posting something like that in full before the book's release might jeopardize sales. (It really is a horrible ability as written.)
Ah, that makes sense, Mark. Thanks for the explanation.
Sorry, I didn't realize posting a small part of a class ability was against policy. In the past it seemed to me like piecemeal rules or paraphrased rules were okay, so I figured this would be okay as well.
Thinking on it more now though, I can see how posting something like that in full before the book's release might jeopardize sales. (It really is a horrible ability as written.)
I have been consistently asking people not to post entire abilities wholesale until the book is out in all threads (at which point, the sky's the limit!) This was maybe the third time I've even needed to remove something. I highly doubt that showing text vs. not will jeopardize sales (if anything, to be honest, I think having the text would help in some cases, since people on the forums have sometimes been reacting to overly strong statements in both positive and negative directions before reading for themselves), but thanks for the concern, RD! It's the community spirit here that makes this a great place to discuss Pathfinder and gaming in general.
I've heard it gets some abilities to spend ki to compensate for blown will saves, but does it get anything that helps it just not fail them in the first place? From what I understand Still Mind does what it's always done, although now since it's protecting a weaker save that certainly punishes you for giving it up to take vows.One thing that doesn't get mentioned a lot are the new class abilities the unchained monk gets that make up for this. Ultimately, I'd say their Will saves end up comparable in most situations.Ah, I misunderstood some posta... It's the style strikes that requiew an specific limb, not the new FoB. Alright, then.
The nerf to Will saves is still stupid, unnecessary and contrary to the flavor of the class...
Aren't you likely to drop Still Mind by taking vows for extra Ki anyway?
Especially with the limited Ki amounts since there is more Ki needed to be spent.But now it is a harder choice I guess.
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Everyone is missing the point of Formless Mastery. Don't think of it as an unchained monk class feature; think of it as an unchained Crane Wing nerf. If you look at it that way, Formless Mastery is a thing of beauty.
You see, the standard Crane Wing nerf turned a feat that automatically blocked one melee attack into a feat that provided a +4 bonus to AC against one melee attack if you happened to burn an immediate action before that attack was rolled in the first place. That's a fairly intensive nerf, but all of the sacred cows were really holding it back.
Now that everything's been unchained, Crane Wing can be properly nerfed. If you're stuck GMing for a bunch of uppity martials who insist on taking Crane Wing, even though its been nerfed down to an occasional +4 AC bonus against one melee attack, you can teach them a lesson by giving Formless Mastery to your NPC monks.
Your monks get a +4 bonus on attack rolls against anyone using Crane Wing, perfectly counteracting the +4 bonus to AC that Crane Wing occasionally provides. Plus, to further punish the PCs for daring to take a non-magical defense nearly as effective as some 1st- or 2nd-level spells, your NPCs also get massive damage bonuses and other perks against them.
Never before has a nerf been so perfectly complete.